hagerty



No. 624,0!3. v Patented May 2, I899.

' T. F. HAGERTY.

PLAITING MACHINE.

(Application filed Jan. 25, 1898.)

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N'0. 624,0!3. Patented May 2, I899. T. F. HAGERTY.

PLAITING MACHINE.

(Application filed Jan. 25, 1898.) (No llnflel.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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Nrrn STATES THOMAS F. HAGERTY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE AMERICAN PLAITING MACHINE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PLAlTlNG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 624,013, dated May 2, 1899.

Application filed January 25,1898. Serial No. 667,851. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS F. HAGERTY, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Plaiting Fabrics, of which the following is a specification.

This invention belongs to that class of machines designed to fold and plait cloth or other fibrous material, and more especially relates to that character of plaiting known as accordion plaiting; and the object of my invention is to produce a machine that will fold each plait and deliver it into a heated box, Where it will be fully pressed and delivered out of the rear open end of the pressingbox-Without having to be gathered or reefed separately and again heated and pressed, as was heretofore practiced.

To attain the desired objects, my invention consists of a machine of the character named embodying novel features of construction and combinations of parts, substantially as dis closed herein.

Figure1isasideviewofmyinvention,showing the principal elements constituting my machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical central sectional View showing the inside part of the frame with a view toshow the method of constructing and operating the under folding mechanism and cams. the inside and outside operating cams and levers, the upper folding-blade,and the heated box; and Figs. 4, 5, and 6 show the construction of the operating-cams.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the frames of the machine.

2 is a cast-iron plate forming the bottom plate of the heating-box 3.

4 is the top cover of the box, divided into two sections, leaving a space between the sections for the attachment of a fiat spring 5.

6 is a flat pressing-bar, of metal, placed permanently in the box, and '7 is a wire cord attached to each end of said bar and passing backward over and down in a grooved pulley 8.

part of the frame.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing '9 is a cast-iron folding-bar extending from side to side on the inside of the machine, to which it is secured by screws, and 10 is the upper folding knife or blade, attached to a square shaft 11 by set-screws.

12 is the vibrating bent arms or levers, carrying the upper-blade shaft on its upper arms, while at its rear end it is attached to a rockshaft 13, which is journaled in boxes.

14 is a tripping-lever which is attached to the round ends of the square shaft 11 at its upper end, while at its lower end it comes in contact with a friction-roller cam 15, which is attached to the driving-shaft 16. To the driving-shaft 16 are attached at each end, outside of the frame, cams 17,which actuate the bent vibrating arms, and to the same shaft, inside of the frame at each side, are attached the earns 18, and on top of these cams rest at their middle parts the two bent-levers 19. The rear ends of these levers are attached to the rock-shaft 20, which is journaled in the upper In the front arms of said levers is journaled the square shaft 21,, to which is attached the lower folding-blade 22. To the square shaft 21 I attach a short spiral spring 23, the lower end of said spring being attached to the middle girth, which holds the side frames together. A rod 2* is attached to the lower rock-shaft l3 and hangs down to nearly the bottom of the frame. To this rod, at its lower end, is attached a long spiral spring 25, which is also attached to the middle girth. An adj usting-screw 26 is attached at one side of the frame over the vibrating arm, with which it comes in contact in its upper stroke. Two spiral torsion-springs 27 as shown in Fig. 3, are placed on each end of the shaft that carries the upper folding-blade, one end entering the shaft and the other free end engaging the large vibrating arms, to which they are attached. A gas-pipe 28, having a series of holes in its body for the free burning of gas under the castiron plate 2, is passed through openings from one side of the frame to the other, where it rests, and at its admission end is provided with the usual atmospheric burner, as shown in Fig. 3.

The rear half of the top cover 4 is permanently attached to the box, while the front half rests upon the ribs which hold the top and bottom apart, and it is provided with slots on its front edge that passes over the screws 2.), and this plate is also provided with two handles 30 for the purpose of lifting and sliding out the plate to remove the work. Two llat springs 5 are attached to the rear top plate and have their free ends pressing away from the rear plate toward the front one for a distance limited by the slots in the plate.

13y reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the machine rests upon a table and that under this table is located a treadle-frame 31, attached to the floor at its hinged end, while its front end has a foot-board to which the pressure of the foot is applied. The cord 7 is attached to the frame at each side, and the machine is now prepared to operate. Tension-wires 32 are attached across the top front of the machine, through which the fabric to be plaited is passed. A sheet-metal or other top covering is provided in front to cover the operating parts inside of the sides of the frame. Through a crank 33, attached to the driving-shaft, motion is imparted to the machine.

To operate my invention, the cloth to be plaited is passed through the tension-wires 32, next down over the folding-bar f) and under the upper folding-blade 10, which is now held outward under the in lluence of the spiral torsion-springs 27, and next down in front of the pressing-bar G, which is held away temporarily by the operator lifting with his left foot the frame 31. cloth is secured by inserting itin front of the lower knife, which is at its highest point, the foot releases the frame, which by its weight pulls the pressing-bar against it and firmly holds it. The operator now turns the crank 33, when the cam 17 will press down the vibrating arms and the top folding-blade will press against the cloth, the tripping-lever at this time having been forced upward by the friction-roller cam 15. The plait or lap thus formed will be brought down between the lower folding-blade 22 and the folding-bar 9, said blade at this stage being at its highest point. By further movement of the drivingshaft one-half of a revolution the cam 18 will let the lever which carries the under foldingblade drop down, aided in part by the short spiral spring 23, and further movement will again bring it up, where it will remain until the top folding-blade will have carried down another plait, when it will again fall, as before stated. The top folding-blade being always carried forward after having delivered the plait by the aid of the two spiral torsionsprings on the blade-shaft, in turn also carries the front half of the top covering-plate along with the plait delivered into the box. Vhen the blade ascends, the covering-plate, under \Vhen the edge of the" the influence of the two flat springs 5, is brought back, thus causing the edge of the plate to cover up the plait and prevent its escape until another plait is folded. This operation is repeated until the box is filled up and the pressing-bar is carried out to the open end in the rear. When the box is thus filled, the operator places his foot on the treadleboard and presses down the frame which carries the cords, which in turn draws the pressing-bar up in the box, thus causing the plaits which were partially pressed to be drawn up against each other into a compact mass.

Previous to plaiting the fabric it may be dampened slightly, or, as in most cases, a moisture is created in the box by the air in the cloth, which is suflicient to hold the plaits when firmly pressed together. The most delicate silks and eheffons can be plaited, as the plates, blades, and bars are nickel-plated to prevent rust, and when care is taken to regulate the heat burning or discoloring is prevented. It will be seen that the cams 17 are capable of imparting a longer upward, but no longer downward, movement to the Vibrating arms 12, and that the depth of the plait can be regulated by means of the adj listing-screw 26, the top folding-blade always going down the same distance, and being checked on its backward stroke by contact with the adjusting-screw. By this arrangement of cams it will be seen that a larger or smaller fold or plait can be taken and the machine set to any size desired by placing strips of paper or metal under the bars upon which the top covering-plate rests and also setting the under folding-blade higher.

This machine will also plait zigzag accordion-plaiting, known to the trade as pineapple-plaiting, by folding up several thicknesses of cloth into narrow widths and feeding them into the machine slanting at an angle of about forty-five degrees until the strips are all plaited either from the righthand side of the machine or from the left.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a plaiting-machine, the combination of a frame, a single driving-shaft mounted therein, cams carried by said shaft, two levers operated upon by said cams to give said levers a movement up and down with reference to each other, a knife carried byashaft mounted in each lever, and a tripping-lever connected to the upper knife-shaft and operated by said cams.

2. In a plaiting-machine, the combination of a resting and plaiting box, means for heating the same, a sliding top plate having actuating means, a folding-bar, a pairof levers carrying each a blade for folding the plait, and mechanism for operating the levers.

3. In a plaiting-machine, the combination of a frame, a driving-shaft mounted therein and earryinga series of cams, a pair of levers carrying blades and operated upon by said Signed by me atWashington, in the District cams to move the levers up and down, a tripof Columbia, this 24th day of January, 1898. ping-lever also operated by said cams, a folding-bar, a plaiting-box, a pressing-bar a1- 5 ranged in said box, means for moving said Witnesses:

bar against the formed plaits, and means for CLARENCE E. HOOPER, compressing the plaits into a solid mass. \VM. N. MOORE.

THOMAS F. HAGERTY. 

